Recent News – Page 84

Posted on August 4, 2020 by sick skills — Leave a comment

Microsoft direct operations, products and packaging to be zero waste by 2030

Every year, more than 11 billion tons of waste are produced worldwide according to the United Nations Environment Programme. A byproduct of our daily lives and every sector of the world’s economies, the trash we discard pollutes our land, clogs our waterways, depletes our natural resources and contaminates the very air we breathe. We recognize the urgent need to protect the world’s ecosystems and reduce the carbon emissions that come from the creation, distribution and disposal of waste. That’s why we’re announcing today our goal to achieve zero waste for Microsoft’s direct operations, products and packaging by 2030.

Our zero waste goal is the third sprint in Microsoft’s broad environmental sustainability initiative launched earlier this year focusing on carbon, water, ecosystems and waste. We are setting ambitious goals for each and empowering our customers with the technology and our learnings to do the same.

To address our own waste creation, Microsoft will reduce nearly as much waste as we generate while reusing, repurposing or recycling our solid, compost, electronics, construction and demolition, and hazardous wastes. We’ll do this by building first-of-their-kind Microsoft Circular Centers to reuse and repurpose servers and hardware in our datacenters. We’ll also eliminate single-use plastics in our packaging and use technology to improve our waste accounting. We will make new investments in Closed Loop Partners’ funds. And finally, we’ll enlist our own employees to reduce their own waste footprints.

By 2030, we will divert at least 90 percent of the solid waste headed to landfills and incineration from our campuses and datacenters, manufacture 100 percent recyclable Surface devices, use 100 percent recyclable packaging (in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, OECD, countries), and achieve, at a minimum, 75 percent diversion of construction and demolition waste for all projects. This work builds on our ongoing waste reduction efforts that started in 2008 which resulted in the zero waste certifications of our Puget Sound Campus and our datacenters in Boydton, Virginia and Dublin, Ireland.

Microsoft Circular Centers

To meet the growing demand for our cloud services, our datacenter footprint – and the 3 million servers and related hardware that power it – must expand. Today, these servers have an average lifespan of five years and contribute to the world’s growing e-waste problem. To reduce this waste, we plan to repurpose and recycle these devices through new Microsoft Circular Centers, which will be located first on our new major datacenter campuses or regions, and eventually added to existing ones.

Using machine learning, we will process servers and hardware that are being decommissioned onsite. We’ll sort the pieces that can be reused and repurposed by us, our customers, or sold. We will use our learnings about reuse, disassembly, reassembly and recycling with design and supply chain teams to help improve the sustainability of future generations of equipment. Microsoft Circular Centers build on our earlier circular cloud initiatives to extend the lifecycle of our servers and minimize the waste sent to landfills.

In Amsterdam, our Microsoft Circular Center pilot reduced downtime at the datacenter and increased the availability of server and network parts for our own reuse and buy-back by our suppliers. It also reduced the cost of transporting and shipping servers and hardware to processing facilities, which lowered carbon emissions. We expect the Microsoft Circular Centers to increase the reuse of our servers and components by up to 90 percent by 2025.

Eliminating single-use plastics in packaging

Approximately 300 million metric tons of plastic are produced ever year, 50 percent of which is used one time. And, half of this plastic waste comes from packaging. The scale of this problem and its impact on our oceans, waterways and land requires bold action, which is why we are eliminating single-use plastics from our packaging by 2025. This includes plastic film, primary product packaging and our IT asset packaging in our datacenters.

Improving waste data

Today, there is no consistent, high-quality data about the amount of waste, the type and quality, where it is generated and where it goes. In addition, data differs considerably depending on the waste category. For example, data about hazardous waste and electronics is well accounted for and tracked due to regulations and robust management systems for both. However, data about construction and demolition waste does not have consistent measurements or reporting. Waste data needs a standardized methodology, better transparency and higher quality. Without more accurate data, it’s nearly impossible to understand the impact of operational decisions, what goals to set, and how to assess progress, as well as an industry standard for waste footprint methodology.

Since we can’t solve a problem that we don’t fully understand, we are investing to digitize waste data across the company to identify opportunities to improve waste data collection. This digital solutions for our operations will include technology to track and report on dashboard waste, Power BI platforms for e-waste chain-of-custody, and improving Microsoft Power Apps which helps us capture real-time waste data. As we gain clarity and confidence in our broader waste footprint we will include more precise waste data in our public reporting.

Climate Innovation Fund investment: Closed Loop Partners

We’re investing $30 million in Closed Loop Partners’ funds to help accelerate the infrastructure, innovation and business models for supply chain digitization, e-waste collection, food waste reduction, and recycling industry products to build a more circular economy at scale. Closed Loop Partners is a pioneering investor in circular economy innovation with a track record of working with corporate partners to pilot new solutions. In addition to benefiting from the technologies that are being developed, we plan to use learnings from our partnership to inform Microsoft’s circular economy initiatives in our devices and cloud value chains, specifically packaging, e-waste and waste diversion from landfills.

Empowering our customers

We will share our learning from our own zero waste journey with our customers, who are already using our technology to better understand, measure and reduce their own waste footprint. In 2019, Microsoft partnered with H&M, Target, PVH Corp. and others to explore the need and to formulate a suggestion of global standard powered by Azure called Circular ID. This platform tracks a garment in an effort to create a more sustainable fashion economy by reusing clothing through rental, resale or recycle, rather than being destroyed.

Dutch nonprofit Madaster Foundation is also using digital identities to eliminate waste. Madaster’s platform tags materials with an identity, so they can be recycled, resold and reused, driving more sustainable construction decisions. Vancouver-based SPUD, an online organic food delivery company, built a logistics platform on Microsoft Dynamics 365 that uses AI to lower food waste. In one year, SPUD diverted 265,971 kilograms of waste from the landfill, preventing 444 tons of carbon from entering the atmosphere, and saved 3,564,275 liters of water.

Of course, recycling and reusing materials to divert them from landfills is key to reducing waste. Colchester Borough Council in the U.K. provide services to 192,500 residents, from licensing to recycling. The council is moving function-specific systems to Dynamics 365, unifying its data across intelligent business applications. The recycling tracking system provides reporting via Microsoft Power BI, showing data like heatmaps of problem spots for collections or where residents need more encouragement to recycle.

Enlisting our employees

Our employees play an important role in our company’s waste footprint. As we did with our carbon and ecosystems announcement, we are inviting our employees to participate in our waste reduction efforts. To show employees the impact of their actions and how much waste they generate, we are developing an internal Power BI waste data dashboard. This will be available starting with employees based at the Puget Sound campus and expand to campuses around the world. The dashboard will display the average waste generated per employee and can be used to test effectiveness of waste reduction campaigns, implementation of a waste prevention initiatives and more.

In addition, we will launch our first waste reduction challenge, a month-long, online challenge connecting individual action to collective impact later this year. Our employees will have the opportunity to learn how they can participate in Microsoft’s corporate waste program and commit to taking impactful action in their daily lives. The challenge will focus on actions employees can take at home during the global health crisis. These challenges will incorporate themes of waste prevention, material reuse, circular economy and waste equity. We will also create more opportunities for our employees to become actively involved, both in company-wide activities, like our annual weeklong hackathon that will include a call for proposals on waste reduction.

Our collective challenge

No one person or organization can solve the global waste problem. It will take all of us doing our part, including using better data to understand the problem and make smart waste policy decisions.

Zero waste is an ambitious goal, but minimizing our own waste footprint is essential to preserving the natural resources and reducing waste-associated carbon emissions to ensure our economies and societies around the world thrive for generations to come.

Posted on August 4, 2020 by sick skills — Leave a comment

CVP Brad Anderson: Why I think it’s time to revisit the idea of a ‘Modern Browser’

Over the last year, one of the most common questions I’ve gotten from other executives is about the browser.

Specifically, the question is about which browser should be the default for accessing internal apps and data from users’ devices.

Previously, if your organization wanted to standardize on a single modern browser for use across all platforms, your only option was Chrome. This fact changed (in dramatic fashion) back in January when we released the new Microsoft Edge, which we believe is the best browser for business. Now IT leaders have another choice for modern browsers across all your platforms and, frankly, when you do a comparison, the choice is pretty clear.

Let me explain.

The new Microsoft Edge is built on the open-source Chromium project, the same foundation used by Chrome. This means that sites will perform the same on Microsoft Edge as they do on Chrome, and that you likely won’t experience the traditional compatibility problems you saw with IE.

With those major obstacles resolved, there are 5 remaining areas you have to rigorously examine when evaluating the browser you want your organization to use for accessing corporate apps and data:

Stronger Privacy.
Improved Internal Search.
Better Compatibility.
Manageability and Security.
Better Memory Usage.

Stronger Privacy

It’s time to expect more from browsers, especially when it comes to having more control over your data. Microsoft Edge provides you powerful default privacy protection, while still allowing you to benefit from web personalization. We have built our track record by contributing to the advancement of business by creating productivity tools that empower users. These tools, and our entire approach, are built on privacy, trust, and data protection as fundamental and foundational attributes of building for an enterprise-quality bar.

A browser from Microsoft is a commonsense selection for the needs of your users to access confidential and sensitive data. Check out our browser privacy promise to learn more about how your privacy is handled in Microsoft Edge.

Improved Internal Search

It pains me to say this as a regular user of Bing, but Google is the first name most people think of when it comes to search. But, when it comes to searching your organization’s internal information and data, Microsoft is clearly superior. Microsoft Search in Bing (MSB) is natively built into Microsoft Edge and this enables search across both your internal and external datasets from any Bing-powered search bar.

Figure 1: Files view – Get right back to the file you were working on or see files that co-workers have shared with you.

Figure 2: Conversations – Pick up where you left off in Microsoft Teams or Yammer and participate in business-wide chats.

Here’s a personal experience I’ve had with this functionality: over the years, I have, despite my best efforts, struggled to find data on the internal Microsoft web sites. Now, I go to one place (the new Microsoft Edge) and start typing whatever it is I’m searching for—just like I would when searching the web. I no longer have to pause and consider whether what I’m searching for is internal or external—I simply start typing and MSB searches all internal company resources (including contacts) for what I need. This enables me to quickly get to all of the internal Microsoft resources.

To see what this means to your workforce at a macro level, a recent Forrester Consulting TEI study found that companies reduced their time spent searching by 50 to 75%. IT Pros also see 30 – 60% reduction in certain support tickets, because employees are able to self-serve on common questions to IT. Having a single source of combined search for internal and external data and information is a game-changer.

Better Compatibility

Because it is built into the expansive worldwide Microsoft ecosystem, Microsoft Edge naturally has a higher level of compatibility than Chrome for most commercial organizations’ needs.

The natural first question you have while reading that is probably, “Well, if they are both based on the same open-source Chromium project, why is there any difference?” The reason is that 60% of enterprises have apps that were built to run in IE and may not be compatible in the Chromium engine. To address this widespread challenge, we built Internet Explorer mode into Microsoft Edge. This setup allows you to remain compatible with all your legacy internal apps while ensuring that the same browser has all the latest compatibility requirements for the world’s most sophisticated new websites. This marriage of IE and Chromium is unmatchable; this is designed from “file: new” to give your users the best experience possible in a secure environment.

Manageability and Security

Most of you reading this are already using Office 365 and the Office apps across all of your devices, and we’ve worked for years to build out our manageability, identity, and security capabilities in ways that natively integrate these capabilities into every tool you use. The Microsoft Edge browser has these same capabilities to secure your manageability/identity/security so that your browsing is secure and productive across devices just like your Office apps on your devices. We approach the browser and the Office apps in the exact same way.

Considering that the average commercial user spends 60% of their time in the browser, then leveraging Microsoft 365’s built-in capabilities across Microsoft Edge and Office gives you common management and security solutions across the apps where your users are spending most of their time and accessing/using the majority of your internal data.

With Microsoft Edge, you can define policies that keep data contained within commercial apps and block copy/paste into non-commercial apps, and you can create policies that help ensure users can only save your data into locations you have approved, like OneDrive and SharePoint. You can also define conditional access policies that ensure only trusted users—who are using trusted devices—can access your data from Microsoft Edge. These are all unique capabilities of Edge.

These are the exact same policies many of you have already set in Microsoft Endpoint Manager, Intune, and Azure Active Directory for your mobile devices—and now we’ve made it so that Microsoft Edge is a natural and seamless extension you can begin using right now to meet your most critical business needs.

Better Memory Usage

We all know that happens when we have too many tabs open—our computer chugs, and we can’t do what we need online. Tabs eat up memory, so we wanted to address that. The new Microsoft Edge is more efficient on PC resources with the latest Windows 10 May 2020 update, which means your users’ batteries can last longer with faster performance. Longer battery life is one of the most common requests from users in the research we continually do. The Wall Street Journal just published its own findings on this. Performance, battery, and memory usage will continue to be the main focus areas as Microsoft Edge matures.

The five elements above are critically important to the security and productivity of any organization, and I believe that Microsoft Edge offers unique value (in some cases unmatched) in each category. These features are available or coming in Microsoft Edge on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android. You can simply extend what you already have configured for the Office mobile apps to Microsoft Edge and Windows.

So, what can you do next?

First, from Microsoft Endpoint Manager, set Microsoft Edge as the default browser across all of our platforms—here’s how to do it, and this guide can be used to do this via Intune.

Next, train your users on Microsoft Edge and Microsoft Search in Bing to make them more efficient in searching for internal content. You can use these pre-written kits that are designed to help you with end-user adoption and training.

And also educate your users on the importance of Microsoft Edge’s privacy and security features when accessing organizational data.

Try out Microsoft Edge if you haven’t already by downloading today. If you have and are ready to deploy, resources are available to assist you. Contact us at https://fasttrack.microsoft.com right away.

Posted on August 4, 2020 by sick skills — Leave a comment

How Jij and Toyota Tsusho are reducing carbon emissions with Azure quantum

Even with the recent decrease in cars on the road, we’ve all had the experience of being stopped at a traffic signal, waiting for the light to turn green, only to be stopped by another red light one block later. Besides being a frustrating driving experience, this inefficient idling time contributes considerably to carbon emissions. If we can optimize the timing of traffic signals to reduce this waiting time, we could improve the flow of traffic and ultimately lessen our impact on the environment.

The challenge with optimization problems like this one is that when the number of variables increases (e.g., volume of vehicles, number of signals, time of day), the computational requirements to calculate the best solution (e.g., efficient signaling time) grows quickly with today’s classical computers.

In nature, we find efficient solutions to complex optimization problems that can be a great source of inspiration when designing new algorithms. Nature speaks the language of quantum mechanics and emulating these unique quantum properties can lead to powerful new optimization techniques. For example, by emulating quantum tunneling on classical hardware we can efficiently find solutions to instances of hard combinatorial problems. Similarly, by using tempering techniques like those used in metallurgy when hardening steel, we can efficiently solve hard optimization problems.

In Azure Quantum, we have developed optimization techniques inspired by natural processes for binary optimization problems. This approach allows for the native encoding of higher-order interactions on an all-to-all graph, meaning that no mapping or embedding is needed, ultimately unlocking applications that are seemingly intractable.

Jij Inc. and Toyota Tsusho are working together to begin tackling mobility and traffic challenges using quantum-inspired optimization (QIO) in Azure Quantum. Founded in 2018 by theoretical physicists, Japanese startup Jij helps businesses like Toyota Tsusho experiment with new computing techniques and apply quantum research to solve real-world problems.

Traditional methods for traffic signal optimization treat each vehicle independently in large-scale simulations that are computationally expensive and slow. Those methods are unable to factor in higher-cost variables, such as the correlation of traffic flow between signals.

To help Toyota Tsusho find a better solution, Jij proposed a Polynomial Unconstrained Binary Optimization (PUBO) formulation, requiring higher-order terms. Solving this PUBO representation of the problem using QIO in Azure Quantum, Jij and Toyota Tsusho were able to reduce car waiting times by 20% when compared to traditional methods with large-scale simulation.

We previously had to simulate traffic for each individual light to find an improved sequence, but that approach was limited because we couldn’t factor in the time correlation of traffic flow between lights. Now with Azure Quantum, we can address this problem from a more systems-level approach. Collaborating with Toyota Tsusho, we seek to improve the timing of large-scale traffic networks, resulting in potential economic and environmental benefits for many cities.

– Kohji Nishimura, CTO, Jij

By building on the same foundational principles as nature, we are moving towards a vision of optimizing entire holistic environments in a way that is not possible with today’s classical systems—fundamentally changing the way people, goods, and services move through cities, countries, and around the world.

Microsoft is partnering with Microsoft Quantum Network members like Jij to realize this vision by supporting their development of practical solutions and accelerating customer impact through Azure Quantum.

Jij and their early work on traffic signal optimization with Toyota Tsusho is a first step toward preparing for a world where scaled quantum computers are more readily available.

We are looking forward to seeing the progress toward a changing transportation landscape—where economic and environmental benefits are increased in cities around the world, ultimately improving the quality of life for all.

For a third-party perspective on our work with Jij and Toyota Tsusho, check out this recent article from The Wall Street Journal. If you would like to learn more about quantum-inspired optimization or ways you can get involved with Microsoft Quantum and Azure Quantum, please reference the links below.

Apply to become an early adopter of Azure Quantum

Request to join the Microsoft Quantum Network

Learn more about quantum-inspired optimization with Microsoft Learn

Posted on August 2, 2020 by sick skills — Leave a comment

Microsoft to continue discussions on potential TikTok purchase in the United States

Following a conversation between Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and President Donald J. Trump, Microsoft is prepared to continue discussions to explore a purchase of TikTok in the United States.

Microsoft fully appreciates the importance of addressing the President’s concerns. It is committed to acquiring TikTok subject to a complete security review and providing proper economic benefits to the United States, including the United States Treasury.

Microsoft will move quickly to pursue discussions with TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, in a matter of weeks, and in any event completing these discussions no later than September 15, 2020. During this process, Microsoft looks forward to continuing dialogue with the United States Government, including with the President.

The discussions with ByteDance will build upon a notification made by Microsoft and ByteDance to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). The two companies have provided notice of their intent to explore a preliminary proposal that would involve a purchase of the TikTok service in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand and would result in Microsoft owning and operating TikTok in these markets. Microsoft may invite other American investors to participate on a minority basis in this purchase.

This new structure would build on the experience TikTok users currently love, while adding world-class security, privacy, and digital safety protections. The operating model for the service would be built to ensure transparency to users as well as appropriate security oversight by governments in these countries.

Among other measures, Microsoft would ensure that all private data of TikTok’s American users is transferred to and remains in the United States. To the extent that any such data is currently stored or backed-up outside the United States, Microsoft would ensure that this data is deleted from servers outside the country after it is transferred.

Microsoft appreciates the U.S. Government’s and President Trump’s personal involvement as it continues to develop strong security protections for the country.

These discussions are preliminary and there can be no assurance that a transaction which involves Microsoft will proceed. We do not intend to provide further updates until there is a definitive outcome to our discussions.

Posted on August 2, 2020 by sick skills — Leave a comment

Starting Sept. 15, @XboxGamePass Ultimate members can play more than 100 games from the cloud on their Android phone or tablet

Our vision for Project xCloud, Microsoft’s cloud gaming technology, is to give you the opportunity to play the games you want, with the people you want, anywhere you want. Since launching the public preview across North America, Europe and in South Korea, you’ve shared stories about the unique ways you’ve played from the cloud while providing invaluable feedback that’s helped us improve the experience.

Cloud gaming as part of Xbox Game Pass is the next major step in our ongoing vision to put you at the center of the experience, to give you more value from your games and membership, and to remove the barriers from play. Last month we laid out our commitment to you and announced cloud gaming, powered by Project xCloud, will be part of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate at no additional cost.

Today we’re excited to share more about what you can expect. Beginning September 15, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members can play more than 100 games from the cloud on their Android phone or tablet. Cloud gaming will launch in beta for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members in 22 markets to ensure stability as we scale the feature to millions of gamers.

When cloud gaming launches as part of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, players will have access to more than 100 high-quality games playable from the cloud, including Minecraft Dungeons, Destiny 2, Tell Me Why, Gears 5, Yakuza Kiwami 2, and more. And as we’ve committed to providing day-one access to new titles from Xbox Game Studios as part of Xbox Game Pass, it’s our intent to make those same games available in the cloud from the day they release. We’ll have more to share about the full catalog of games as we approach launch.

As the world around us changes and entertainment is readily available no matter the device, it’s our vision to make games accessible in a variety of scenarios. All the experiences you expect on Xbox and your gaming profile travel with you on mobile, including your friends list, achievements, controller settings, and saved game progress. You can continue your Gears 5 campaign while traveling away from your home console, or if a sibling or roommate is using the TV you can still complete strikes with friends in Destiny 2.

Cloud gaming also unlocks new couch co-op experiences with traditional online games. Sail off to adventure in Sea of Thieves on your tablet while a friend plays alongside you on console, right in the same room. Cloud gaming removes the need to wait until you can access your console in order to play your favorite games: Just pick up your phone or tablet and play the games you want, any time you want.

Since its inception in 2017, Xbox Game Pass has been about providing members with the freedom to discover and play games from a curated, constantly updated library. With this in mind, making cloud gaming available as part of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate was a natural next step. More than 10 million Xbox Game Pass members are already discovering and playing great games on console and PC – and with the addition of cloud gaming, members can discover and try out new games on Android phones and tablets. And Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members have a shared library of games, so no matter whether your friends prefer to play across Xbox One, mobile or PC, it’s never been easier for Xbox Game Pass members to play the same games together. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members can dive right into the latest library addition’s campaign within seconds, and a spontaneous Minecraft Dungeons co-op session really is just an invite away.

You can join Xbox Game Pass Ultimate today for $1 for the first month, then $14.99 per month after that. In addition to cloud gaming, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate includes access to more than 100 high-quality games for console and PC; exclusive member discounts, deals, perks, and Xbox Live Gold. To play games on your phone or tablet, download the Xbox Game Pass app from the Samsung Galaxy Store or the ONE Store (both of which include a complete, full-featured experience with in-app purchase capabilities), or the Google Play Store.

Cloud gaming with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will be available on Android devices in 22 markets at launch, including Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

To enhance the mobile gaming experience, we’re partnering with Razer, PowerA, 8BitDo, and Nacon to create all-new accessories specifically designed for cloud gaming. These include different types of phone clips that adapt to a wide range of devices, travel controllers that fit in any bag, and exclusive Xbox-branded controllers that split apart and attach to the side of your phone. You can also play with your Xbox One Bluetooth Wireless and PlayStation DualShock 4 controllers.

This is an exciting time as we enter a new era of gaming. For those who’ve participated in the Project xCloud preview, we thank you – you’ve helped us shape the way we play games moving forward. The preview will continue to be available until September 11. We’ll also continue to listen to our community and add new features, games and perks to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate over time, including news at Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked event tomorrow (August 5). We look forward to continuing this journey and enabling you and your friends to seamlessly play the games you want anywhere you want. For more information, please visit www.xbox.com/gamepass.

Posted on August 2, 2020 by sick skills — Leave a comment

Microsoft joins Open Source Security Foundation

Microsoft has invested in the security of open-source software for many years and today I’m excited to share that Microsoft is joining industry partners to create the Open Source Security Foundation (OpenSSF), a new cross-industry collaboration hosted at the Linux Foundation. The OpenSSF brings together work from the Linux Foundation-initiated Core Infrastructure Initiative (CII), the GitHub-initiated Open Source Security Coalition (OSSC), and other open-source security efforts to improve the security of open-source software by building a broader community, targeted initiatives, and best practices. Microsoft is proud to be a founding member alongside GitHub, Google, IBM, JPMC, NCC Group, OWASP Foundation, and Red Hat.

Open-source software is core to nearly every company’s technology strategy and securing it is an essential part of securing the supply chain for all, including our own. With the ubiquity of open source software, attackers are currently exploiting vulnerabilities across a wide range of critical services and infrastructure, including utilities, medical equipment, transportation, government systems, traditional software, cloud services, hardware, and IoT.

Open-source software is inherently community-driven and as such, there is no central authority responsible for quality and maintenance. Because source code can be copied and cloned, versioning and dependencies are particularly complex. Open-source software is also vulnerable to attacks against the very nature of the community, such as attackers becoming maintainers of projects and introducing malware. Given the complexity and communal nature of open source software, building better security must also be a community-driven process.

Microsoft has been involved in several open-source security initiatives over the years and we are looking forward to bringing these together under the umbrella of the OpenSSF. For example, we have been actively working with OSSC in four primary areas:

Identifying Security Threats to Open Source Projects

Helping developers to better understand the security threats that exist in the open-source software ecosystem and how those threats impact specific open source projects.

Security Tooling

Providing the best security tools for open source developers, making them universally accessible and creating a space where members can collaborate to improve upon existing security tooling and develop new ones to suit the needs of the broader open source community.

Security Best Practices

Providing open-source developers with best practice recommendations, and with an easy way to learn and apply them. Additionally, we have been focused on ensuring best practices to be widely distributed to open source developers and will leverage an effective learning platform to do so.

Vulnerability Disclosure

Creating an open-source software ecosystem where the time to fix a vulnerability and deploy that fix across the ecosystem is measured in minutes, not months.

We are looking forward to participating in future OpenSSF efforts including securing critical open source projects (assurance, response), developer identity, and bounty programs for open-source security bugs.

We are excited and honored to be advancing the work with the OSSC into the OpenSSF and we look forward to the many improvements that will be developed as a part of this foundation with the open-source community.

To learn more and to participate, please join us at: https://openssf.org and on GitHub at https://github.com/ossf.

To learn more about Microsoft Security solutions visit our website. Bookmark the Security blog to keep up with our expert coverage on security matters. Also, follow us at @MSFTSecurity for the latest news and updates on cybersecurity.

Posted on August 2, 2020 by sick skills — Leave a comment

New offerings in Microsoft Teams include ability to scale meetings up to 20,000, use Teams Calling for 1:1 connections

This post was written by Nicole Herskowitz, Teams General Manager

In recent months, the shift to remote and hybrid work has catalyzed organizations of all sizes, and across every industry, to rethink how their people and teams communicate and collaborate. Many of our customers are now navigating a new COVID-19 response phase, moving on from “remote everything” to a more sustainable, hybrid workplace, blending remote work and physical offices. They are investing in long-term resilience and strengthening their organizational agility, while proactively managing cost and risk of current economic uncertainty.

When it comes to communications, there is a broad spectrum of needs that are required to connect employees from the worksite to the main office to the home office – across locations and time zones. The spectrum starts with the most basic 1:1 meetings and calls with colleagues, to larger group meetings, all the way to large events and conferences. During the crisis response to the pandemic, many organizations transformed rapidly in group meetings first, as evidenced by Microsoft Teams reaching 200 million participants in a single day. Organizations looking to create more sustained transformation are seeing that Teams serves communications needs well beyond group meetings, taking communications to the next level with broad scale company-wide events. At the other end of the spectrum, Teams modernizes 1:1 calling with a cloud-based phone system in the same Teams app that keeps you in the communications flow.

Today we’re excited to announce new offerings and capabilities across all ends of the communications spectrum.

Scale with professionalism and control with Advanced Communications

Communication systems across the world are evolving to support customers’ changing needs. As our customers are mastering using Teams for group meetings, they want to increase their reach, and use the same familiar tool to deliver online meetings and events at a much broader scale. Naturally, this scale requires both structure and admin control, to achieve a more professional, seamless, compliant experience. Today, we are excited to announce a new Advanced Communications set of capabilities to support these needs:

Scale your Teams meeting up to 20,000 participants. Reach larger audiences to stay connected with your employees, customers, and partners. When building this capability, we were focused on your meeting experience, making sure that even as the meeting scales it is still easy to manage and listen to the speakers. Therefore, we limited the size of interactive meetings to 1,000 participants, with a seamless shift to a ‘view only’ mode after the limit is met.
Enhanced admin control. Use new capabilities and insert more structure to meetings, by adding your company’s branding to meetings for a professional look and feel. Start out with branded meeting lobby, launching in the coming months, and extend your branding to the core meeting experience coming later. Connect with business applications to manage at scale and automate workflows. Work with Teams certified solution partners and help your organization address business needs by setting up compliance recording policy or bringing in collaboration to your customer engagement workflows.

Custom branded background.

Each of these new capabilities will be enabled with the new Advanced Communications plan, which can be added to any Microsoft 365 or Office 365 paid subscription, and is available this week. Get Advanced Communications 60-day free trial via Teams Admin Center now or via Microsoft Teams website in mid-August

Give employees 1:1 connections with Teams Calling

Connecting 1:1 with colleagues, customers and partners is important, especially when meeting face-to-face can be challenging. Employees in your organization can easily call each other from Teams without a phone number. For your employees who use phone numbers to make and receive calls with customers, partners, and vendors, those numbers need to be with them, wherever they are. With Teams Calling, a cloud-based phone system, employees can continue to do this whether they are in the office, working from home, or some combination of the two.

When using Teams, you are getting best-in-class calling capabilities—validated by Team’s leader position in both the Gartner Magic Quadrant and Forrester Wave reports. With all your communication tools in one place, Teams Calling makes it easy to call anyone, anywhere with any device. And, you can also move seamlessly between chat, calling, and meetings based on your needs. This saves IT time, reduces costs associated with multiple point solutions, and diminishes the need for employee training. Teams Calling is a secure, robust solution that is being used by both large call centers and individuals alike. It can be deployed quickly using your existing calling plan or a Microsoft calling plan in select markets.

As communication is being reimagined, so are the tools that we use to communicate. Instead of a desk phone and other peripherals, we’re taking a fresh perspective on what a phone could be with our newest device innovation, Microsoft Teams displays. This is a dedicated Teams device featuring an ambient touch screen, high-quality calling and video, and a hands-free experience powered by Cortana.

With Cortana built-in, the Lenovo ThinkSmart View and Yealink will be delivering the first Microsoft Teams displays in the U. S. later this year.

We also realize that being able to use existing hardware can provide important cost savings when moving to a new phone system. Today, we are announcing extended support for Skype for Business (3PIP) phones beyond 2023, so you can continue to use your existing Skype for Business phones as you move to Teams. Additionally, we will be supporting core calling features on SIP phones from Cisco, Yealink, Polycom, and others with Teams. Support for SIP phones will be available in the first half of 2021.

For customers looking to modernize their phones, we are bringing a new line of Microsoft Teams phones with physical buttons, high-quality audio, and core calling features at an affordable price. These phones are designed for common areas and basic information worker scenarios, with options available from AudioCodes, Poly, Yealink starting early 2021. We are also expanding our portfolio to deliver new USB peripherals that have dial pads and a modern Teams user interface for heavy call users. These USB phones work out of the box, featuring a Teams button, and will connect to both a PC and Mac to bring a high-quality Teams audio experience. These will be available in late 2020 and the first of which will be shipped with Yealink.

Left: AudioCodes C435HD (Microsoft Teams phone), Right: Yealink MP50 (USB phone).

How Microsoft Teams is transforming calling for CenturyLink

CenturyLink, a Telecommunication and technology company, had to rapidly respond to COVID-19 to support customers. The calling services in Teams means that sales reps can take calls from their customers whether they are on their phone with the Teams mobile app or working on their laptop with the Teams client open. Over one weekend, CenturyLink deployed Teams to 8,000 employees in the North American sales force. By the end of three weeks, employees in North America were working from home, with the full global workforce of 40,000 quickly following—all using Teams. “With the rapid move home during COVID-19, we were able to ensure that anyone had a telephony solution regardless of what devices they were using or where they were using them,” says Scott Poulter, Director of Systems Application and Transformation, Network Operations Center at CenturyLink. “It eliminated the need for a hard phone sitting on a desk and allowed people to continue to use the technology to connect with the people they needed to—customers or colleagues.”

As your organization navigates a new normal of hybrid of work and learning, Microsoft wants to help you with a communication solution that addresses the spectrum of your needs- with the right tools for any meeting size. We understand that every customer is in a different stage of your digital transformation journey, and with this new set of communications tools, we are here to make the adoption of the tools your organization needs as simple as possible. We have several ways for you to get started with Teams easily:

Get started with Teams for free.
Get guidance and resources through the FastTrack program.
We are rolling out promotional offers for Advanced Communications, Audio Conferencing, and Teams Calling to support your communication journey, and experience new capabilities. Reach out to your Sales Representative for more details, or learn more on Microsoft Teams website.

Posted on August 2, 2020 by sick skills — Leave a comment

New Microsoft Store experience coming to Xbox Insiders

Summary

Introducing the new Microsoft Store on Xbox
A completely rebuilt experience designed to be faster, safer and easier to use than ever before
Available in beta beginning August 5 for some Xbox Insiders

Hello Xbox fans! We’re excited to share something we’ve been working on for a long time: the all-new Microsoft Store on Xbox. Far more than a typical app update, we’ve rebuilt the experience from the ground up to be faster, safer and easier to use than ever before. We’re obsessed with getting it right for customers, and we can’t wait for you to see what we’ve been working on.

Faster

The new Microsoft Store on Xbox is more than twice as fast as before. It launches in under two seconds, and the browse performance is greatly improved – it’s faster than ever to load pages and find what you need, whether it’s checking out a sale price or watching HD trailers.

The Microsoft Store on Xbox makes it easier than ever to discover what you’re looking for, whether you want to try out a gaming membership like Xbox Game Pass, find a specific title or DLC, or access an app, movie or TV show. View trailers inline while you search and browse (or turn on autoplay for the most seamless experience), easily see which games your friends are playing, and get information about discounts and offers at a glance.

Easier

Our goal is to provide an inclusive and intuitive experience for everyone, and we’re committed to making it easier than ever to find your next favorite game, app, movie, or TV show. This starts with a fully redesigned navigation system, allowing you to jump between shopping experiences in a snap or deep dive into something specific.

In order to improve ease of use, we’ve revisited and refined a few features and functionalities:

With the redesigned search functionality, it’s easier to filter your results.
Guided by your feedback, we rebuilt the Wish List. You can now easily add new games to your Wish List and quickly check your list content (including keeping tabs on any sale pricing for your Wish List items).
The updated shopping cart makes it easier to add items to your cart as well as view the items in your cart before and during purchase.
We’ve also made it easier than ever to shop across four generations of great Xbox content by enabling customers to view pricing while browsing for new Xbox One games and backward compatible Xbox 360 and original Xbox titles, as well as add these games to your Wish List or shopping cart.

Safer

We’ve also been working hard to make sure that the Microsoft Store on Xbox is the best place for families to shop for gaming and entertainment. To help parents ensure that their children are interacting with appropriate content, customers must be signed in to their Xbox account before browsing. Being signed in also helps you have a more personalized experience – you’ll see content that is more relevant for you.

Similarly, we’ve made improvements to the way content is filtered to align with the family settings applied to child accounts. With this update, we ensure that content rated beyond a user’s content filter level does not appear anywhere in search or browse experiences. This means that a child with content filters set for an 8-year old will not be able to view content in the store that is rated for a teenager, for example. The update also guarantees that content filters are applied even when multiple users are signed in. It also makes it easier for parents or caregivers to grant exceptions to restrictions for particular games, movies, or TV shows they may allow their family members to have access to. Click here to learn more about child accounts and family settings on Xbox.

You’ll see content ratings more clearly surfaced: All trailers start with a consistent ratings pre-roll, ratings information is always clearly shown at the top of game details pages, and persisting age ratings information shows up all the way through the purchase process.

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If you want a closer look at all of these updates, I walked through them on Major Nelson’s video podcast – check out the video above and here.

How to participate

We’ll be rolling this update out gradually, so if you’re an Xbox Insider, you may begin to see the new Microsoft Store on Xbox starting as early as August 5; the experience will be available for more Insiders over time before it rolls out to all users this fall. If you encounter any issues, please submit feedback via Report a problem (hold down the Xbox button on your controller and select Report a problem from the power menu). Please submit feedback under Category > Apps and Subcategory > Microsoft Store. If you are not yet an Xbox Insider you can find more about and join the program at Insider.xbox.com.

We’re looking forward to your feedback. The new Microsoft Store on Xbox is just the first of many updates we’re rolling out in the coming weeks, all built to keep the gamer at the center of the entire gaming experience – stay tuned for more.

Posted on August 2, 2020 by sick skills — Leave a comment

Buying a new computer for your student? 3 things to look for

It’s an unusual time to be a student. Virtual classes, hybrid models, independent learning—going to school just doesn’t look the same as it did last year.

Yes, having a good computer for school has always been important. But now it’s vital to pick a laptop that has the power, adaptability, and longevity for the “new normal.”

Here’s why we think it should be a Windows 10 PC powered by a 10th Gen Intel® Core™ processor.

1. Function AND form

In 2020, “status symbol” laptops or tablets just don’t carry the same clout when everyone’s learning from home.

What students need more than ever are powerful PCs with innovative form-factors, like 2-in-1 laptops that learners can switch from tablet mode to laptop mode depending on what works best for them.

Speaking of which:

Two words: touch screen. Today’s students grew up using their smartphones. Touching the screen is how they interact with devices. This naturally translates to computers with a touchscreen interface, and they can use all the inputs they want—touch, mouse, pen, and keyboard.

Oh, the options you have! From 2-in-1s to tablets and laptops, of all different sizes—there are a variety of form-factors from respected manufacturers like Dell, HP, and Lenovo to choose from. You’ll find an option that’s perfect for your student’s needs and style.

Sounds expensive, right? You’d be surprised at the laptop deals you can find. Whether your budget is $300 or $1,300, you can find the best laptop for learning and for your student, wherever they are.

Here’s what you should look for:

Speed and power: If you’re looking for blazing speed, you’ll find it in an Intel® Core™ i7 powered laptop. Intel® Core™ i3 and Intel® Core™ i5 laptops are also incredibly powerful compared to older PCs. And whether it’s research, writing, content-creation, or compiling code, all of these devices have the speed you need.
Screen size: Classes are long and school days are even longer. A bigger screen can make it all a little easier on the eyes. There are great laptop options that can also be backpack-friendly for when they return to school or head out for a study session, while still a great size for relaxing on the couch for gaming or streaming.
Battery life: The whole point of laptops is to work on them wherever you want without being tethered to a desk or power cable. Longer battery life enables flexibility to work from the couch, kitchen table, classroom, or library.

2. Accessible and compatible by design

Learning styles vary greatly. Some students are visual learners, whereas others are more hands-on. Some read to understand, others listen or talk to understand. Some students struggle to read, write, or speak.

Classes have different application requirements. Some teachers require use of a course-specific app, or all final papers to be completed in Microsoft Word format.

This is where Windows PCs shine; compatibility and built-in accessibility features that over 1 billion users enjoy worldwide. Whether your student needs to make everything easier to see by adjusting text size and color or boosting contrast, or would prefer to have items read aloud to them by using the built-in screen reading app, Narrator, your student can customize their computer to work best for how they want to use it, where they want to use it.

Some laptops even come with touchscreens and digital pens that allow students to take notes as naturally as they would on paper. Just switch from Laptop to Tablet mode on 2-in-1 laptops—it’s ideal for math and physics problems! Research even shows that students who use a digital pen for science classes showed a 38% increase in performance.¹

3. More future-proof

If you start your student off with an Intel-based Windows PC in college, they’ll have 4 years of experience with the platform by the time they graduate (8 if you start in high school! Up to 12 if you start in elementary school!). And with Fortune 500 companies looking for computer literacy to get their work done, you’re setting students up for success in the job market ahead. Internship or entry-level role, you’ll be giving your student an advantage by ensuring they’re tech-savvy for the work environment.

This also applies to those who want to blaze their own path. If your current student is looking to be a future entrepreneur, give them the best chance by giving them the best computer that can do it all.

With a Windows 10 computer, your student can take on any challenge from the first day of school to graduation and beyond. Convenience, compatibility, built-in intelligent features that learn and adapt—combine all that with the speed and responsiveness of an 10th Gen Intel® Core™ processors and you’ve got a formula for success.

Posted on July 31, 2020 by sick skills — Leave a comment

Court is in session, just not in a courthouse

Courts systems have an obligation to deliver justice—regardless of global or local crisis

Recently courts, like businesses and institutions worldwide, have been affected and required to modify processes. The unprecedented actions of locking down the globe presents many challenges, and unattended consequences, with the potential to impact the delivery of justice for all. While the court was racing to stand-up remote capabilities subsequent pressures including climate change, political unrest, and civil disturbances added to the complexity and urgency.

Courts have a great responsibility to our community given the continuity of justice is what keeps order and fairness. Those two elements become even more important in times of crisis. Many court leaders and administrators were fast to respond to the crisis. The quick adoption of remote working and virtual hearings capabilities helped keep the court open, eliminating backlogs. Meanwhile, court clerks were instrumental in helping the technology industry understand the unique requirements for a court

Microsoft worked with subject matter experts and the court customers to help develop a more tailored solution to meet the needs of a court. Virtual Hearings was the answer to the ask of customers to help replicate the functionality of the court process from a remote posture.

“… in our quest for digital transformation, with the aim of realizing expedited, efficient, and secure trials that are more user-friendly for court users especially during this time of public health emergency,” said the Honorable Chief Justice Diosdado M. Peralta.

After several months of remote working, we have seen the technology evolve and adoption of the technology accelerate. The courts are learning that the ability to work remotely is not only advantageous for social distancing but an efficient and cost-saving measure that could enhance the services of a court. Technology savvy courts are realizing that they may not need the huge and costly infrastructures of a courthouse, that citizens can get levels of “self-help” from a digitally connected court, paper costs are reduced or eliminated with safer storage, auto redaction, and digital filing. Attorneys can quickly communicate and submit documents—regardless of time or location—to keep the pace of justice moving even when social distancing is no longer required.

Core to Microsoft’s culture, we have applied customer feedback to help evolve our technology to support the unique needs of courts. As our world evolves and changes, the needs of the court will as well. Microsoft, who embraces the mission of empowering every person and every organization on the planet is helping courts deliver on their promise of justice for all.

Watch a virtual hearing in action and learn more about Microsoft in Public Safety and Justice.